This document discusses research into differences in language use between men and women, known as sociolinguistics. It summarizes two important aspects sociolinguists study: differences in linguistic features used by each gender, and reasons for those differences. Two types of studies are described - those finding very clear gender differences, and those finding preferential use of certain speech features. Some languages have separate gender-exclusive varieties. Research also finds differences in word choice, vocabulary and morphology between genders. Women generally use more standard variants of language due to social status consciousness and their role as guardians of social values.